All News

August 23, 2012

Cost Of The Project Will Top $500,000

The Salina Airport Authority has approved a short-, medium- and long-range master planning process for the Salina Regional Airport. In action Wednesday, the board of directors accepted a grant agreement from the Federal Aviation Administration for $475,182 to cover 90 percent of the project's cost. The federal funds will be supplemented with 10 percent local funds.

Program Will Be Revamped, Seek Accreditation

Officials in Lee County, FL, have suspended flights of its MEDSTAR helicopters while the while the operation revamps its program and seeks accreditation. The action resulted in four people, three pilots and a the director of flight operations, losing their jobs.

Volunteer Effort To Develop Safety Management Systems

Independent air ambulance company Air Evac Lifeteam has entered the third level of the FAA's Safety Management System Voluntary Pilot Project. The national helicopter EMS company, with 110 bases in 15 states, has been enrolled in the pilot project since February, 2010, although systemic safety processes have been in place since 2001 and a formalized system in place since 2009.

No Evidence Of The Glasair Or Its Pilot In Nearly A Month

A former city councilman in Tonasket, WA, went missing July 24th flying his kit-built Glasair from Tonasket to Sequim, WA. He was making the trip to pick up a family member when the plane went missing.

Ottawa, Montreal Under Consideration For $25 Million Facility

Canada's National Research Council has narrowed its potential sites for a $25 million facility to develop fly-by-wireless technology to two cities. Ottawa and Montreal are being studied as potential sites for the CANEUS consortium's new research center.

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Comments Came During Meeting Of The Yorktown, NY, Planning Board

A small number of residents who live near IBM's Watson Research Center in Yorktown, NY, told the town's planning board they are concerned about the noise that might be generated by helicopters landing at a proposed helipad at the center.

Pilot Said The Shirt's Anti-TSA Message Made Other Passengers 'Uncomfortable'

A man and his wife returning from the woman's grandfather's funeral on August 18th were removed from a Delta Airlines flight because airline agents including the pilot said the anti-TSA message on the man's t-shirt made other passengers "uncomfortable," even after he agreed to remove it.

Will Provide Sims In Oman, India, UK

CAE has won a series of military contracts valued at more than C$55 million. They include a contract from Airbus Military to develop a C295 full-flight simulator (FFS) for the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO), a contract from BAE Systems to provide maintenance and support services for the Indian Air Force's Hawk training devices, and contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence to upgrade C-130J and Lynx simulators.

Company Admits Viral Video Was Faked

A video showing iconic British TV weatherman Michael Fish BASE jumping from a building in the UK was faked, according to some media sources in the UK and finally admitted by the clothing company that staged the stunt.

Congressman Tom Petri was a toddler when his birth father, a Navy flyer and Lieutenant during World War II, was lost during a mission over the Atlantic. Obviously, aviation has had an impact on his life from the moment it started... and, since then, he has cast his mark on the industry as well -- and usually in a very good way.

Now Has 'Sufficient Evidence' That The Plant Is Where They Say It Is

It was just about 48 hours ago that ANN broke this story -- based on the email Pipistrel USA Master Distributor Michael Coates sent to ANN chronicling his efforts to convince the agency that its Taurus 503 LSA airplanes (among others) bound for the US market were being manufactured in Italy, and that as such they could be certificated to be sold and operated in the United States. As you'll probably recall, the FAA said it was unable to locate the manufacturing facilities claimed by Pipistrel using Google Earth, and cited that as one reason that it would not authorize the import of the motorgliders into the U.S.

Aviation And Politics Are Strange But Necessary Bedfellows...

Congressman Tom Petri was a toddler when his birth father, a Navy flyer and Lieutenant during World War II, was lost during a mission over the Atlantic. Obviously, aviation has had an impact on his life from the moment it started... and, since then, he has cast his mark on the industry as well -- and usually in a very good way. Tom Petri represents Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District and is serving his 17th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. First elected in April 1979, Petri has been returned to office every two years since.

Agency Received Reports Of Chafed Fuel Return Assemblies

The FAA is proposing an AD for Cessna 172R and 172S airplanes. The proposed AD was prompted by reports of chafed fuel return line assemblies, which were caused by the fuel return line assembly rubbing against the right steering tube assembly during full rudder pedal actuation.

Ten Other Nations Have Granted Waiver For 500 Pound Increase

The FAA has denied a petition from Bell Helicopter to increase the maximum gross weight of the Model 429 helicopter from 7,000 to 7,500 pounds. The company had sought the exemption to allow the aircraft to carry additional equipment and/or fuel.

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Money Will Rehabilitate The Primary Runway At Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field

U. S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday announced a $6.8 million dollar grant to rehabilitate the primary runway at Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho. The Secretary made the announcement during a visit to Boise. He was accompanied by Mayor David Bieter and U.S. Representative Randy Labrador.

Was Under Contract With Defense Department For Training Purposes

An airplane that went down in a lake in the Adirondack mountains last Thursday lost its propeller in flight, according to a New York State Police official. The aircraft, which was based in North Carolina, was flying in support of a Vermont Air National Guard training exercise conducted out of Fort Drum in Jefferson County, NY.

Anotov AN-26 Impacted Terrain Resulting In 32 Fatal Injuries

The official in charge of the Sudanese Civil Aviation Corporation (SCAC) has offered to resign following an accident that fatally injured 32 people Sunday. Among those lost were one federal and three state ministers.

Plane Went Down About A Mile West Of Hernando Beach, FL Wednesday

The U.S. Coast Guard went to the aid of a pilot who's plane went down in the Gulf of Mexico about a mile west of Hernando Beach, FL, Wednesday. The FAA received an emergency distress signal at 1115 EDT, and contacted Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders for assistance.

Was Part Of A B-17 Crew That Went Down In 1944

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) said Tuesday that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

"While the advantages of the additional equipment may increase the level of safety, the support for the increase in gross weight of the aircraft appears to primarily be for economic reasons." Source: Excerpt from an FAA document.